LIMA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Four former and current
executives of Peruvian construction companies were detained pending trial on
Monday, accused of colluding with Brazilian builder Odebrecht to bribe a former
president.
Judge Richard Concepcion ordered the men, who deny
wrongdoing, to be held in pre-trial jail to ensure they do not flee or obstruct
the law, as prosecutors prepare criminal charges.
The decision marked the first time executives from
major Peruvian companies have been jailed in the 'Car Wash' scandal, Brazil's
largest-ever corruption probe that has widened to include other Latin American
countries.
Odebrecht has admitted to bribing local officials
in 12 countries to secure public works contracts over the course of a decade
and promised authorities that it would provide details.
Prosecutor Hamilton Castro accused Jose Alejandro
Grana and Hernando Alejandro Grana, who once headed Peru's biggest construction
group Grana y Montero, and Fernando Gonzalo and Jose Fernando Castillo, who
work for two private contractors, of providing $15 million of a $20 million
bribe that Odebrecht paid.
The money was paid to ex-president Alejandro Toledo
to secure highway contracts that the companies partnered together on a decade
ago and had been disguised on company books as the cost of "additional
risks" covered by Odebrecht, Castro said at a court hearing.
The judge also ordered Gonzalo Ferraro, a former
Grana y Montero manager who was in local hospital, to be placed under house
arrest.
All five men deny any wrongdoing and are appealing
the judge's ruling, said Ferraro's attorney Roger Yon.
Grana y Montero, and the two private companies, JJC
Contratistas Generales and Ingenieros Civiles y Contratistas Generales,
declined to comment. The three companies have previously denied knowing about
or taking part in Odebrecht's bribes.
Grana y Montero's U.S.-listed shares closed 6.9
percent lower on Monday.
The corruption probe has shaken up the local
construction sector as the government prepares to award nearly $8 billion in
contracts for rebuilding infrastructure and housing destroyed by flooding.
President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who served in
Toledo's cabinet when the highway contracts were awarded, has said he knew
nothing about the alleged bribe for Toledo.
Toledo, ordered to pre-trial detention in February,
has denied taking bribes from Odebrecht. Peru is seeking his extradition from
the United States.
A second former President, Ollanta Humala, has been
in pre-trial detention since July and denies allegations he took illicit funds
from Odebrecht.
